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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
3.5/5✨
TW: Alcoholism, Parental death, Conversion Therapy, Shock Therapy, Racism, Homophobia, Abuse, Bullying, potential sexual assault of a minor.
A huge thank you to Penguin Teen Canada for sending me an ARC in exchange for a review❤️
My rating for this book has been teetering back and forth. I keep going between a 3 to a 4-star rating. For the first half of this book, I really struggled to get into the story. At times the 70s references can be a bit overwhelming and tricky to grasp, I actually think this would be a fantastic audiobook in order to grasp all the lingo. I think if I had this book read to me with, someone distinguishing Jonathan, Ziggy, and his Mom I would have been able to jump into this story a bit quicker. This is also slightly due to the fact I don't like reading a synopsis so I wasn't aware Ziggy and his mom we're going to be talking to Jonathan for the beginning of this book, now that's my bad! Due to the writing, I really struggled to get to know the characters and found myself struggling to stay engaged.
The middle of this book though was a different story! I couldn’t put down I was breezing through it, tearing up, wanting to hug this book and staying up way too late because, yes, I did become attached to the characters. I still struggled with the lingo and storytelling but was able to become more invested. That being said I did drop my rating though due to the ending. This was the type of ending where I turned the page expecting to have a good 30 more pages but it just ended and I left it a bit confused. I reread the last chapter and maybe it's just me but I feel like there was a lot still opened? Going into this story though I had a strong feeling it was good to have an open-ended ending though, doesn't mean I love those endings but I just had a feeling.
I have a lot of feelings towards this book and was finding it very difficult to articulate how I felt. This book is a very important story, there aren't a lot of LGBTQIA+ historical books for teens and I get so excited when a new one is announced. This is a very heavy read and covers a lot of topics and I recommend it highly because of that, I think it is a very important book, reading first hand a 17-year-old going through shock therapy and knowing that if it was found out he was gay Jonathan could be thrown in jail just blew my mind. This is the type of book you almost wish didn't pull on real-life because it just shows how awful and hateful humanity can be (I do want to say I knew how bad humans can be before this, but it just reiterated that). Due to that, I do want to reiterate that even though I wasn't 100% satisfied with this book I very highly recommend it.
Now as you can probably tell from the synopsis this is a heavy contemporary book. Following our main character Jonathan who is a 17-year-old gay male from Missouri. This book takes place during the summer of 1973 and I can honestly say I’ve never read a book written in the 70s before. The setting was one of the main reasons I was intrigued by this book. I do wish the author delve further into the time period though, as a Canadian who doesn't have a ton of US history knowledge I felt like the author could have done more by way of explaining what was happening instead of just briefly mentioning it. At first, I wasn't even going to mention this because I didn't want to sound uneducated but as I have seen several other non-Americans mentions it I felt safe doing so too.
We follow Jonathan who spends most of his time wrapped up in the music of Ziggy Stardust who is his idol. Jonathan's best friend is Starla a mixed black girl who was such a badass feminist I loved her so much! If the author wrote a book just about her I would pick it up so fast!
Jonathan has a very rough time at school due to a group of bullies who are extremely hateful. Jonathan also has a very rough home life due to his alcoholic father who's mood can switch constantly, due to all this he turns to Ziggy and his music. That is until a boy named Web comes to town.
I really love Web and his family. I think the author did a fantastic job at developing Web and his families story. I would hands down read a story that just centred around Him. I can't personally speak on the rep for Web who is a two-spirited indigenous boy living during the 70s but I did find his story to be extremely important as it's not something we see in YA. It's still heartbreaking to see that the struggles Web was facing are ones that are still happening today.
All in all, I did enjoy my time reading this book. I think it is an extremely important story and am currently passing my arc on so more people can read this book. Although it wasn't for me I can still see the love that went into this story.
A huge thank you again to Penguin for sending this my way!
TW: Alcoholism, Parental death, Conversion Therapy, Shock Therapy, Racism, Homophobia, Abuse, Bullying, potential sexual assault of a minor.
A huge thank you to Penguin Teen Canada for sending me an ARC in exchange for a review❤️
My rating for this book has been teetering back and forth. I keep going between a 3 to a 4-star rating. For the first half of this book, I really struggled to get into the story. At times the 70s references can be a bit overwhelming and tricky to grasp, I actually think this would be a fantastic audiobook in order to grasp all the lingo. I think if I had this book read to me with, someone distinguishing Jonathan, Ziggy, and his Mom I would have been able to jump into this story a bit quicker. This is also slightly due to the fact I don't like reading a synopsis so I wasn't aware Ziggy and his mom we're going to be talking to Jonathan for the beginning of this book, now that's my bad! Due to the writing, I really struggled to get to know the characters and found myself struggling to stay engaged.
The middle of this book though was a different story! I couldn’t put down I was breezing through it, tearing up, wanting to hug this book and staying up way too late because, yes, I did become attached to the characters. I still struggled with the lingo and storytelling but was able to become more invested. That being said I did drop my rating though due to the ending. This was the type of ending where I turned the page expecting to have a good 30 more pages but it just ended and I left it a bit confused. I reread the last chapter and maybe it's just me but I feel like there was a lot still opened? Going into this story though I had a strong feeling it was good to have an open-ended ending though, doesn't mean I love those endings but I just had a feeling.
I have a lot of feelings towards this book and was finding it very difficult to articulate how I felt. This book is a very important story, there aren't a lot of LGBTQIA+ historical books for teens and I get so excited when a new one is announced. This is a very heavy read and covers a lot of topics and I recommend it highly because of that, I think it is a very important book, reading first hand a 17-year-old going through shock therapy and knowing that if it was found out he was gay Jonathan could be thrown in jail just blew my mind. This is the type of book you almost wish didn't pull on real-life because it just shows how awful and hateful humanity can be (I do want to say I knew how bad humans can be before this, but it just reiterated that). Due to that, I do want to reiterate that even though I wasn't 100% satisfied with this book I very highly recommend it.
Now as you can probably tell from the synopsis this is a heavy contemporary book. Following our main character Jonathan who is a 17-year-old gay male from Missouri. This book takes place during the summer of 1973 and I can honestly say I’ve never read a book written in the 70s before. The setting was one of the main reasons I was intrigued by this book. I do wish the author delve further into the time period though, as a Canadian who doesn't have a ton of US history knowledge I felt like the author could have done more by way of explaining what was happening instead of just briefly mentioning it. At first, I wasn't even going to mention this because I didn't want to sound uneducated but as I have seen several other non-Americans mentions it I felt safe doing so too.
We follow Jonathan who spends most of his time wrapped up in the music of Ziggy Stardust who is his idol. Jonathan's best friend is Starla a mixed black girl who was such a badass feminist I loved her so much! If the author wrote a book just about her I would pick it up so fast!
Jonathan has a very rough time at school due to a group of bullies who are extremely hateful. Jonathan also has a very rough home life due to his alcoholic father who's mood can switch constantly, due to all this he turns to Ziggy and his music. That is until a boy named Web comes to town.
I really love Web and his family. I think the author did a fantastic job at developing Web and his families story. I would hands down read a story that just centred around Him. I can't personally speak on the rep for Web who is a two-spirited indigenous boy living during the 70s but I did find his story to be extremely important as it's not something we see in YA. It's still heartbreaking to see that the struggles Web was facing are ones that are still happening today.
All in all, I did enjoy my time reading this book. I think it is an extremely important story and am currently passing my arc on so more people can read this book. Although it wasn't for me I can still see the love that went into this story.
A huge thank you again to Penguin for sending this my way!
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Wow, this book. I picked it up on a whim after seeing it on Novel Neighbors bookstagram page. Read the first four pages in the store and couldn't leave without it.
It took me a minute to get past the over use of 60s slang, but when I got into the emotional scenes with Web and Johnathan, I wouldn't escape the book's pull. I just wanted Web and Johnathan to be happy!!!
This book made me cry, a lot. I felt big emotions while reading it. There were also scenes that felt just like a David Bowie song.
I really, really loved it.
It took me a minute to get past the over use of 60s slang, but when I got into the emotional scenes with Web and Johnathan, I wouldn't escape the book's pull. I just wanted Web and Johnathan to be happy!!!
This book made me cry, a lot. I felt big emotions while reading it. There were also scenes that felt just like a David Bowie song.
I really, really loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Police brutality
Moderate: Death of parent
"--and for one moment in time,
two lonely astronauts floating in space
finally find each other."
two lonely astronauts floating in space
finally find each other."
holy. moly. this. book. I read it in a day and got so lost in the characters and the hurt and healing and the love story and of course all the David Bowie and Pink Floyd references. Honestly, Jonathon and Web are going to stay in my heart for a long time.
The book has a lot of really raw and painful themes about being gay in Missouri in the 1970s, when being gay was still considered a mental illness. Jonathan is dealing with an abusive alcoholic father and Web is Lakota and navigating constant racism. Even with all this trauma though, what I love most about this book is how hopeful it is. Jonathon and Web's relationship feels so real, their vulnerability and flaws and hurt bring them together and the entire book you are just rooting for them to be happy and heal and gahhh!!! It's just so good.
The writing style was beautifully readable and the character development is perfection. I cannot say it enough - this book is an absolute gem!!
The book has a lot of really raw and painful themes about being gay in Missouri in the 1970s, when being gay was still considered a mental illness. Jonathan is dealing with an abusive alcoholic father and Web is Lakota and navigating constant racism. Even with all this trauma though, what I love most about this book is how hopeful it is. Jonathon and Web's relationship feels so real, their vulnerability and flaws and hurt bring them together and the entire book you are just rooting for them to be happy and heal and gahhh!!! It's just so good.
The writing style was beautifully readable and the character development is perfection. I cannot say it enough - this book is an absolute gem!!
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I’d give this book 10* if I could. Perhaps one of the best, most emotional books I’ve read in the last five years. I wish I could read it again for the first time, over and over. The narration was wonderful as well. PLEASE READ IT.
See content warnings. Also, there is on-pageconversion therapy, in the form of electroshock aversion therapy .
See content warnings. Also, there is on-page
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence
I love David Bowie. This book, not so much.
The Reading Rush (2020) prompt: Read a book in a genre that you have always wanted to read more of.
The Reading Rush (2020) prompt: Read a book in a genre that you have always wanted to read more of.